Death to The Satirical Horror Film: The Babysitter Reviewed

By: Cassandra Lyles

Once again ladies and gentlemen, we are given a trope that has been overplayed to death, the satirical horror movie. Netflix’s new original movie opens with a young boy named Cole, whose anxiety seems to control every aspect of his life. Bullied and belittled, the only person who seems to understand him is his older babysitter, Bee. One night when his parents are away on vacation, curiosity overtakes him and he stays up to see what Bee is up to after he goes to sleep.

Graphic Design by Keyla Lerma

The film showcases star Samara Weaving, best known for her role in Australian produced TV series, “Out Of The Blue.” Weaving’s performance, while impeccable, left something to be desired. There was no back story to her character and no real motivation for her actions. Andrew Bachelor, best known for his comedy skits on vine under the name King Bach, played the role of

the comic relief. While a “king” in amature media, his acting ability seemed limited to the undercooked character he was portraying.The basic plot the script was written under was a bit simplistic but could have worked to a degree of success outside the horror comedy genre. However, the blatant plot holes, character cracks, and stale jokes killed what little chance this coming of age story had to begin with.

This movie appeals to the lowest common denominator. Tragically, we have all the stereotypes of overdone teen movies. For example, we have the airhead cheerleader, the meathead jock, the awkward nerd and I could go on but we’d be here all day. The first satirical horror movie Americans were introduced to was Haunted Spooks produced in 1920. Since then, Hollywood has produced movie after movie with this concept, giving birth to classics like Abbott and Costello Adventures, The American Werewolf series, Ghostbusters, and the Scary Movie franchise. This concept, however, has been dreadfully overused because they’re cheap to design and easy to cast up-and-coming talent in. Even lead actress Samara Weaving and famous viner King Bach’s performances couldn’t save this film from being pathetically predictable.